High Quality Discount Hardwood Flooring

Whether you are planning a remodel of your existing home or you are building a new home, saving money is a top priority. There are now available many styles, grains and colors of beautiful discount hardwood flooring. If you have chosen to forgo the option of having laminate hardwood flooring in your home and instead, choose the real feel of hardwood, you know that it can be quite costly. You can save money by installing discount hardwood engineered flooring. This beautiful choice will leave your home warm and welcoming, while keeping you within your budget. Whether you are matching or complimenting existing cabinets, or your new flooring is driving the rest of your home design, you will certainly be able to find a style that meets your needs.
The discount hardwood flooring on the market today comes in a variety of tones, grains and styles. If you have existing cabinets you need to work with, you can either choose to match your new flooring or choose a different color that compliments. Some individuals like a consistent look throughout their home, which creates continuity. Others prefer to have dark cabinets and light floors or light cabinets and dark floors. Typically they keep the grain styles similar, which will bring the different woods together. This design trick is often used for cabinets, mill work and flooring. Whatever your particular style, you can create it easily with the use of engineered hardwood flooring purchased at discount prices.
Laminate hardwood flooring comes in a variety of color tones, as well as different grains. Before making your purchase, it is important to ask yourself a few questions. Do you have indoor animals which will scratch your floors? Do you prefer the look of hardwood or is it important to you to have the real thing in your home? If you have animals that will scratch your floors, you may want to go with a laminate style flooring. If you prefer real hardwood, you will want to purchase the original flooring. Either way, you can find what you are looking for in the discount hardwood flooring available options. You are sure to be satisfied while keeping your budget on track.…

Septic Tanks – Ensuring Water Quality

Understanding septic systems capabilities and limits is needed to ensure water quality. A septic system is a type of On-Site Sewage Facility and is a self-contained, underground waste-water treatment system. By using natural processes to treat the waste-water on-site, septic systems do not require the installation of miles of sewer lines, making them less disruptive to the environment. A septic system consists of a septic tank, a distribution system and a soil absorption system, also called a drain field. The septic tank is a watertight box, sometimes made out of concrete or fiberglass, with an inlet and outlet pipe. The septic tank treats the waste-water naturally by holding it in the tank long enough for solids and liquids to separate. The waste-water forms three layers inside the tank. Solids lighter than water float to the top forming a layer of scum.
Solids heavier than water settle at the bottom of the tank forming a layer of sludge. This leaves a middle layer of partially clarified waste-water. The layers of sludge and scum remain in the septic tank where bacteria found naturally in the waste-water work to break the solids down. The sludge and scum that cannot be broken down are retained in the tank until the tank is pumped. The layer of liquid flows from the septic tank to the drain field. A drain a series of trenches lined with gravel or sand and below the ground. The drain field treats the waste-water by allowing it to slowly trickle from the pipes out into the gravel and down through the soil. The remaining impurities are trapped and disposed of in the soil. The excess water is eliminated through percolation into the soil, and eventually returning to the ground water, through evaporation, and by uptake through plants and transpiration.
The Center for Watershed Protection notes that septic systems can be effective methods of water treatment, however failures are common in many areas. Even properly functioning septic systems can leak and are not designed to effectively deal with most of the phosphorus and nitrogen load found in the water it treats. Pathogenic fecal bacteria are also a concern. The primary concern for a municipality is proper maintenance of septic systems, and in some cases the total load of partially treated pollutants that can impact local drinking water and wildlife. A solid understanding of septic systems capabilities and limits, and a good government plan is needed to ensure water quality.…